Time, date, or amount stamp.



G. GEHRING. TIME, DATE, 0R AMOUNT STAMP.

APPLICATION FILED HAY l7 1911.

1,01 1,049, Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV GEHRING, OF HILDBURGI'IAUSEN, GERMANY.

TIME, DATE, OR AMOUNT STAMP.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUsTAv Gnrmnve, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at l lildburghausen, Duchy of SaXe-Meiningen, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Time, Date, or Amount Stamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in or relating to time, date or amount stamps.

Devices for marking payments effected, that is to say, for producing an impression replacing a postage stamp or any other value stamp, are well known. In these de vices, the operating parts are ordinarily so arranged that the insertion of a coin effects the actuation of a coin lever which, in turn releases a clockwork. The stamp employed in such device is normally held by the action of a spring in its highest position, until caused to descend by the action of a cam or like ,part. The rotation of the cam itself is generally effected by a separate manual operation of a locking bar or looking head which is forced into the device by the user after the insertion of the coin, and in many instances the manual operation of the releasing bar is also necessary. Devices of that kind are, however, objectionable in several respects, notably in that the stamp is guided. in an unsuitable and unreliable manner, and that the impression obtained is, as a rule, indistinct, as the stamp itself is shifted comparatively slowly by the cam, owing to the opposition of the above-mentioned spring. Finally, it may be stated that most known devices require a not inconsiderable time to come to rest after they have been used, as the stamp can only reach its highest position again after the cam has completed the whole of its travel.

All of the above disadvantages are obviated by the improved device hereinafter described, the principal features of which are as follows: The stamp is normally held in its highest position by a toothed disk and is automatically released by the latter after a coin has been inserted, the insertion of the coin automatically effecting the starting of a previously locked clockwork. -When so released, the stamp is depressed by a comparatively powerful spring against the article to be stamped, whereupon, as soon as this operation has been completed, the toothed disk again raises the stamp until it reaches its highest position, and the whole device Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 17, 1911.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

Serial No. 627,771.

is again locked. At the same time as soon as the clockwork starts, a recording device consisting of two rollers and a record strip, as well as of a striking lever arranged in the path of the coin, is operated, so that the cutter provided upon the lever is forced by the coin, which subsequently falls into a coin receptacle, against the record strip, thus perforating the latter. This recording device is of great importance for automatic stamping apparatus, as it serves as a check on the official charged with emptying the same, and renders it possible to determine whether he has delivered all the coins inserted. In the presentapparatus, it is merely necessary to insert a coin in order to start the device, while, on the contrary, the connecting rods generally used and even indispensable in most devices new in use are completely done away with. Moreover, the spring effects very powerful blow of the stamp, so that its impression is always sharp and clear, which is not the case in devices hitherto known and used for the same purpose, on account of the slow down ward movement of the stamp against the action of its controlling spring. a

The accompanying drawing shows a front elevation of a structural embodiment of the new device for marking payments and the like applied to a letter-box.

In the said construction, 1 is a suitably shaped chute which guides the coin inserted into the device to a double armed lever 53, pivotally supported 2 and normally held by a balance weight 1 in the position shown in the drawing, in which position the end that carries the balance weight 4; engages in one of the recesses 5 of a disk 6. On the spindle 7 of the disk 6 is mounted a gear 8 meshing with the gear 9 of a suitable clocl work, so that the clockwork is, therefore, normally locked by the lever 3. A gear 10 of the clockwork meshes with a small pinion 11 keyed to the spindle 12 of a toothed disk 13, the teeth of which engage under a pro jection 14 of a vertical rod 15. The rod 15 is operated by a spring 16 and carries at its lower end a date stamp of any desired construction, the die being removable and interchangeable. Below the lever 3 there is arranged another lever 18 which is pivotally mounted at 17 in such a manner that it is struck by the coin which drops from the receiver 3 in the end of the lever 3 and passes through the guide chute 19. The

lever 3 upon being struck by the coin is oscillated about its pivot 17, a pin or cutter 20 provided at the opposite end of the lever striking a recording strip 21 and marking the same. The recording strip 21 travels about rollers 22 and 23, one of which is driven, by means of suitable intermediate gears 2t, 25, from the clockwork when the latter is in motion, so that the markings produced consequent to the successive movements of the coins through the apparatus are spaced at suitable intervals in the recording strip.

The operation of this device is as follows: The clockwork 8, 9, 10, owing to the engagement of the end of the lever 8 in one of the recesses 5 ot the disk 6, is normally locked. When a coin is introduced into a suitable slot of the letter-box, it falls first on the lever and thus produces a descent of the arm provided with the receiver 3 and at the same time the opposite arm of the lever is raised, to disengage the wheel (3 and, i conser ruence, permit the clockwork to become operative. In that way the toothed disk 13 is rotated in such a manner that the tooth which engages under the projection let of the stamp rod 15 is ultimately disengaged from said projection, whereupon the spring 16 operates the stamp 15 to make an impression upon the letter or post card which, it will be understood, has been introduced into the slot in the letter-boa: and rests on the table 27. In the meantime, the recording strip 21 has been also moved by the clockwork, so that the previous marking is no longer opposite the pin or cutter on the lever 18. The coin passes through the guide chute 19, and falls upon the receiver 1S provided upon one end of the lever 18, depressing that end and, at the same time, raising the opposite end, upon which the cutter is mounted, against the recording strip 21, whereby the latter is again marked. Finally,

the coin falls from the receiver 18 onto the guide plate 28 and rolls down the same into a receptacle 2.). The clockwork, which is still in operation, will then rotate the toothed disk 13, so that the succeeding tooth will engage under the projection ll of the depressed stamp rod 15 and lift the latter wth the stamp 15. During that time, the balance weight it on the lever 3 will ride along the periphery of disk (5 until the next recess 5 is reached, whereupon the clockwork will be stopped or locked. As the speed of rotation of the disk 6 and of the toothed disk 3 is the same, this takes place when the corresponding tooth of the toothed disk 13 has moved the stamp rod back to its original position, so that the device can again be operated after another coin has been inserted.

While the device has been shown and described as applied to a letter-box for the purposes specified, it can obviously be employed in many other connections without departing from its fundamental principle.

I claim as my invention:

In an apparatus of the character specified, the combination, with a clockwork and amovable member for controlling the operation thereof; of a stamping rod provided with a stamp; an operating spring associated with said rod; a member for raising said rod against the action of said sming; connections between said member and said ClOClCWGl'K for operating the former from the latter; a recorder comprising a movable record strip and a member for marking the same; and driving connections between said clockwork and said record strip.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAV GEHRING. lVitnesses:

M. C. DILLINGHAM, I. HLYZE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

VJashington, D. C. 

